Crawler

Abstract

A crawler for capturing and determining state parameters or state data of vehicle tires mounted on a vehicle, with a vehicle chassis with at least two axles and at least three wheels or with a chain or caterpillar drive, a drive system ( 3 ) with at least one electric motor and a rechargeable battery pack, an electronic vehicle controller ( 4 ), a communication unit ( 5 ) for receiving data from a backend and for transmitting data to a backend, a sensor system ( 6 ) with receivers for receiving data from sensors installed in the tires and with sensors for capturing state parameters at the outside of the tires.

1 .- 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A crawler for monitoring and capturing a state of one or more vehicle tires, the crawler comprising:
 a vehicle chassis with at least two axles and at least three wheels or with a chain or caterpillar drive;   a drive system with at least one electric motor and a rechargeable battery pack;   an electronic vehicle controller;   a communication unit for receiving data from a backend and for transmitting data to the backend; and   a sensor system having one or more receivers for receiving data from one or more sensors installed in the tires and with the one or more sensors for capturing state parameters at the outside of the tires.   
     
     
         16 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 15 , equipped for movement and control by means of a remote control. 
     
     
         17 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 15 , equipped for movement and control by means of a FPV (First Person View). 
     
     
         18 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 15 , comprising a unit for accurate location determination wherein the location determination is stored in the vehicle controller and the electronic vehicle controller is configured automatic movement of the crawler based on the location determination. 
     
     
         19 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 18 , wherein the unit for accurate location determination uses global positioning system (GPS). 
     
     
         20 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the communication unit is connected to the backend via a radio connection. 
     
     
         21 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 20 , wherein the communication unit is connected to the backend via one or more of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa or mobile telephony. 
     
     
         22 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the sensor system comprises a profile depth sensor. 
     
     
         23 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the sensor system comprises at least one camera with image sensors. 
     
     
         24 . The crawler as claimed in one of  claim 15 , wherein the sensor system comprises at least one radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader as a receiver for reading in data of an RFID transponder installed in the tire. 
     
     
         25 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the sensor system comprises a receiver for reading in data of an internal pressure sensor installed in the tire. 
     
     
         26 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 15 , wherein the sensor system comprises one or more sensors for environment recognition and includes one or more of at least one camera, an ultrasonic system and/or a radar system. 
     
     
         27 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 15 , further comprising a signal processing unit that evaluates the data captured and stored by the sensor system. 
     
     
         28 . The crawler as claimed in  claim 15 , further comprising at least one optical and/or at least one acoustic warning apparatus. 
     
     
         29 . A crawler for capturing and determining state parameters or state data of vehicle tires mounted on a vehicle, the crawler comprising:
 a vehicle chassis;   a drive system coupled to the vehicle chassis and having at least one motor;   an electronic vehicle controller coupled to the drive system; and   a sensor system for receiving data from one or more sensors installed in the vehicle tires.   
     
     
         30 . The crawler of  claim 29 , wherein the chassis comprises one or more axles. 
     
     
         31 . The crawler of  claim 29 , wherein the chassis comprises one of a chain or a caterpillar drive. 
     
     
         32 . The crawler of  claim 29 , wherein the drive system further comprises a rechargeable battery pack configured to supply energy to the at least one motor. 
     
     
         33 . The crawler of  claim 32 , further comprising one or more solar cells configured to charge the rechargeable battery pack. 
     
     
         34 . The crawler of  claim 29 , wherein the electronic vehicle controller is configured to operate the crawler to travel along a plurality of path points and carry out monitoring measurements based on location of the crawler with respect to the plurality of path points. 
     
     
         35 . The crawler of  claim 29 , further comprising a communication unit coupled to the electronic vehicle controller and a processing unit, wherein the communication unit is configured to connect to a central operation office and receive mission information from the central operation office and the processing unit is configured to evaluate the received data obtained by the sensor system.